1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a steam cooking apparatus provided with a steam generator and a plurality of cooking levels in a cooking chamber within which there is provided a steam input opening connected to the steam generator and a steam outlet opening, and with a temperature measuring device associated with the cooking chamber and connected to a control device.
2. The Prior Art
It is generally known to detect the temperature in a cooking chamber and by the control device to control the feeding of steam into the cooking chamber as a function of the temperature. In this manner, the selected temperature at the temperature sensor is maintained steady for a preset cooking time; but deviating temperatures may occur at other sections of the cooking chamber.
A steam cooking apparatus of this kind is disclosed by German patent specification DE 199 60 743 A1, with a steam input opening being arranged in an upper section of the side wall facing the steam generator through which steam enters the cooking chamber from the steam generator. The steam outlet opening and a temperature sensor are, however, disposed in a lower section of the rear wall. This arrangement is to make possible the simultaneous cooking of food of like consistency, at the same temperature, at several cooking levels within the cooking chamber. It is often necessary, however, to prepare different foods of differing cooking periods for a single meal. This would necessitate sequentially to put foods of differing cooking periods into the cooking chamber. The door of the apparatus must thus be opened intermittently which causes steam to escape. Not only does this raise the humidity of the ambient working space, but as the program is continued the steam generator will have to generate and feed new steam into the cooking chamber. As a result, the amount of energy needed for generating steam is increased. Moreover, the actual temperatures at different locations within the cooking chamber have been found to deviate from the temperature measured at the temperature sensor. Under unfavorable conditions, this often leads to layers of steam of different temperatures in the horizontally disposed cooking levels in the cooking chamber. These different temperatures cannot be controlled and detrimentally affect the result of the cooking process.
It is an object of the invention to provide an energy saving steam cooking apparatus with a plurality of cooking sections.
Another object of the invention is to provide a steam cooking apparatus with a plurality of cooking planes in which cooking temperatures may be individually set.
Still another object of the invention resides in the provision of a steam cooking apparatus with a plurality of cooking planes in which individual cooking temperatures may be individually set by controlling the admission of steam.
In addition, it is an object of the invention to provide a process of cooking, in a steam cooking apparatus of the kind referred to, food made up of different components regardless of their cooking times.
Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.
In accordance with the invention these and other objects are accomplished by a steam cooking apparatus provided with a plurality of cooking sections each one of which is provided with at least one steam input opening and one steam outlet opening.
By arranging one or more steam input openings and/or outlet openings in different cooking levels, and by temperature measuring devices disposed in at least two cooking levels, the advantages more particularly derived by the invention reside in a controllable temperature distribution at all horizontally disposed cooking levels. Depending upon individual wishes, it is possible deliberately to provide either for a uniform temperature distribution in the entire cooking chamber or for different temperatures in individual cooking levels. In this manner, the beginning and the end of a cooking operation of otherwise different cooking periods may be synchronized which aside from a simultaneous preparation of the parts of a meal offers the particular advantage that the organization of preparing a meal is simplified. Different times such as the beginning and/or the termination of a cooking period may be pre-programmed, eliminating the need for intermediate activities or controls and the user""s presence near the apparatus. The simultaneous cooking of different ingredients of otherwise differing cooking periods makes it possible to set, monitor and change the parameters by remote control.
In advantageous embodiments of the invention, the disposition, size, configuration and/or cross-section of the steam input openings and/or of the steam outlet openings may be changeable so as to associate individual ones with several cooking levels. In order to close them in selectable partial sections the steam input and outlet openings are advantageously provided with adjustment. In a particularly advantageous embodiment the adjustment devices are controlled by the temperature measuring devices. In this manner the size of the steam openings may be adjusted to the temperatures required for the food to be cooked in individual cooking levels. In a further advantageous embodiment steam input and steam outlet openings are disposed at the different cooking levels in the cooking chamber with which the temperature measuring devices are associated. In a favorable variant the steam input opening should be positioned in one of the upper cooking levels and at least two steam outlet openings should be positioned at different cooking levels. It is also advantageous to place one arrangement of the steam input opening in the lower cooking level and one arrangement of the steam outlet opening in the upper cooking level, or to place both steam openings in the upper cooking level. A further possibility is to place at least one steam input and at least one steam outlet opening at an upper as well as at a lower cooking level.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, a divider may be placed into the cooking chamber for separating the cooking levels thereof, with or without lateral spaces towards the side walls. In such an arrangement, at least one steam outlet opening would be associated with each of the resulting cooking levels in order to provide for a precise separation of differing layers of temperatures in the cooking ranges or cooking levels. It is also advantageous that the divided cooking chamber allows the simultaneous use of not only one of the cooking compartments but all of them. In an advantageous embodiment a large cooking plate or similar vessel which may be slid into the lateral support frames is used as a cooking chamber divider.
The advantages resulting from the method in accordance with the invention are, in particular, that food made up of several items may be finished simultaneously regardless of the cooking time of the individual items. In the case of food items of the same cooking period a uniform temperature distribution is selected within the cooking chamber whereas in the case of food made up of items requiring different cooking times, different temperatures are selected and maintained during the entire cooking process in the cooking levels or areas. In an advantageous embodiment the temperatures at individual cooking levels or areas may be controlled by temperature measuring devices in connection with steam input and outlet openings which may be varied or adjusted in terms of their number and/or size and/or cross section.